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Team for the World

The Fire’s summer friendly opponents and Team for the World alliance partners Club America took a further step to their first domestic crown since 2005, defeating Monterrey 2-1 (and 4-3 on aggregate) in leg two of the Liga MX semifinals Saturday night at the Estadio Azteca.

In leg one last Wednesday, Ecuadorian international Christian Benitez continued his exploits from the weekend’s 2-1 victory over Pumas UNAM, scoring both goals in the team’s 2-2 draw at Monterrey.

That result set the stage for Saturday’s match, which saw America take the advantage just after the hour mark. In the 62nd minute, Aguilas midfielder Ruben Sambueza was brought down on the right side of the area by Monterrey defender Leobardo Lopez, forcing referee Jorge Antonio Perez to point to the spot.

A minute later, Aguilas striker Raul Jimenez placed his effort past Jonathan Orozco into the lower left netting to give America a 1-0 lead and 3-2 aggregate advantage.

The home side pretty much iced the series 19 minutes later after a Monterrey giveaway at midfield. Jimenez and Benitez quickly broke out in a give and go before the Ecuadorian was slipped into the box and finished past Ibarra for the 2-0 lead and 4-2 advantage.

The goal was Benitez’ fifth in four playoff matches.

Los Rayados pushed late and pulled one back deep into second half stoppage time. Substitute Guillermo Madrigal settled in the box, turned and forced a diving stop out of Moises Munoz before striker Aldo de Nigris finished from close range.

The goal to the aggregate score to 4-3 but the referee blew the whistle soon after, advancing America to the Liga MX Clasura finals against Cruz Azul.

Leg one of the finals will be played at Estadio Azul in Mexico City on Thursday with the return leg at Estadio Azteca on Sunday.

The Chicago Fire take on Club America in an international friendly on Wednesday, July 10 at Toyota Park.

Atletico de Madrid takes Copa del Rey title

Atletico Madrid over came a 25-match winless run against city rivals Real Madrid and a 1-0 deficit to win the Copa del Rey 2-1 in extra time at the Santiago Bernabeu on Friday night.

Real Madrid took the early lead when Cristiano Ronaldo rose above the rest to head home a corner kick in the 14th minute.

Atletico would respond 21 minutes later when Radamel Falcao did yeoman's work at midfield before springing Diego Costa between two Madrid defenders. The Brazilian fired from the top of the penalty area and beating 'keeper Diego Lopez inside the left post.

You could see Real Madrid begin to come undone in the 75th minute when manager Jose Mourinho was sent off for leaving the technical area to argue a play.

Fifteen minutes later, Cristiano Ronaldo kicked Atletico defender Juanfran but the offense went unnoticed and the teams went to extra time level at 1-1.

Atletico would find the game-winner off a corner. Koke's take from the right was headed straight back to him but he whipped in another ball which found the head of Brazilian defender MIranda to beat Diego Lopez inside the near post.

The wheels came off for Real Madrid when Ronaldo was sent off following a scuffle at midfield in the 115th minute.

Shortly thereafter the referee blew the whistle, confirming Atletico's 2-1 triumph. The victory gave the club its 10th Copa del Rey title and first since 1996.

Our Team for the World partner Club America took a big step towards their first domestic title since 2005, defeating Pumas UNAM 2-1 in the second leg of the Liga MX Clasura quarterfinals on Saturday at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

Heading into the match, America already held a 1-0 aggregate lead after Raul Jimenez struck in the 28th minute of the first leg on Wednesday.

Pumas pulled the series level by virtue of Robin Ramirez' classy one-time volley past Moises Munoz in the 21st minute.

Club America would re-take the lead as Ecuadorian international Christian Benitez finished from close range following a redirected shot in the 56th minute.

With the hosts already looking like they'd advance, Benitez put the final nail in the coffin deep into second half stoppage time, beating Pumas 'keeper Miguel Palacios inside the post to clinch a 3-1 aggregate victory.

With the win, Club America moves on to the Liga MX Clasura semifinals and will vist Montrerrey in Wednesday's first leg before welcoming los Rayados to the Azteca for leg two Saturday night.

The Chicago Fire face Club America in an international friendly on Saturday, July 10 at Toyota Park.

After a scoreless 120 minutes, the Fire’s Team for the World alliance partner Internacional (Brazil) needed a shoot-out to edge Juventude 4-3 on Sunday, May 5 to clinch the Rio Grande do Sul state championship.

Inter played the same starting 11 for the third straight match in the final as former Brazilian international and national team coach Dunga clinched his first title with the club.

As the winner of the first stage, the Piratini Cup, another tourney title in the Farroupilha Cup meant that they clinched the State championship. In the standard format the two winners face each other.

Internacional now moves on to open up the national Campeanato Brasileiro Saturday, May 25 against Vitoria.

The top four finishers from that competitoin qualify for the Copa Libertadores, the top club competition in South America.

Atletico Madrid
Atletico came away with a 1-1 draw away to bottom-of-the-table Mallorca this past weekend. After going up 1-0 through Raul Garcia in the 72nd minute, Mallorca equalized in the 87th through Kevin.
Atletico Madrid take a short break from league action Thursday when they pay a visit to Getafe for the second leg of their Copa del Rey tie in which los Rojiblancos 3-0 on aggregate.
Now sitting 11 points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona, Atletico will look to close the gap when they welcome Real Zaragoza to the Calderon this Sunday.

Club America
Los Aguilas opened the 2013 Clausura campaign with a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Monterrey Saturday afternoon in Mexico City. Ecuadorian midfielder Walter Avoyi put the visitors ahead from the penalty spot in the 15th minute before America’s Jesus Molina equalized in the 39th.

With the match looking like it would end in a 1-1 draw, America was granted a late penalty kick which Rubens Sambueza converted in the 94th minute to clinch the three points.
The club will hope to continue it’s one-hundred percent record when they visit Jaguares this Friday.

Besiktas
Turkish side Besiktas most recently fell 2-0 to German side Wolfsburg in a friendly match this past Sunday. They’ll continue their winter break before returning to Super Lig action January 19 in a derby match against Istanbul BB.

Raja Casablanca
Raja Casablanca maintained their GNF league lead with a convincing 4-1, win over Difaa El Jadida this past Sunday. This upcoming Sunday, they will try to keep their slim league lead against lowly Raja Beni Mellal.

Though Lionel Messi set a very impressive career mark on Sunday, it would be hard to argue anyone on the planet had as good of a weekend as Atletico Madrid’s Radamel Falcao who scored five goals in Atleti’s 6-0 home win over Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday.

Teammate Diego Costa put Atletico ahead 1-0 in the 23rd minute before Flacao unleashed a fury of goals in the 28th, 42nd, 64th, 68th and 71st minutes as the club eased to victory over the La Liga bottom dwellers.

The goal fest moved Falcao past Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo and into second on the La Liga goal charts with 16, sitting behind only Barcelona’s Messi who has 23 goals in the current campaign.

Atletico will shift focus to Copa del Rey play when they welcome Getafe to the Calderon for the first leg of their series on Wednesday.

Sitting six points behind Barcelona at second place in the La Liga table, the club will hope to cut into the lead when they travel to the Nou Camp for a top of the table clash on Sunday.

See all the goals from Sunday below...

Besiktas Istanbul

In Turkish Super League play on Friday, Besiktas ran out to a 2-0 lead over Eskisehirspor through Slovakian striker Filip Holosko (sixth minute) and Portuguese forward Hugo Almeida (66th minute).

They often say that in soccer 2-0 is the most dangerous lead though and that proved true as Eskisehirspor pulled two late goals back through a Necate Antes penalty in the 82nd minute before Austrian substitute Atdhe Nuhiu equalized in the 90th.

With the 2-2 draw, Besiktas sit third on 26 points in the Super League heading into Wednesday’s Turkish Cup match at Antalyaspor. They return to league play Saturday when they visit ninth place Genclebirligi.

Raja Casablanca

Raja Casablanca remained first in the Moroccan Botola Pro League, earning four points in two matches last week.

The Green Eagles downed Moghreb Tetouan 3-1 at home last Wednesday before playing to a 0-0 draw at Maghreb Fez on Sunday.

With 23 points, the side sits one point above second place Wydad Casablanca with a game in hand, heading into their top of the table clash this Friday.

With both Jalil Anibaba and Austin Berry in attendance, Atletico fell 2-0 to Real Madrid in a derby match at the Santiago Bernabeu in a derby match Saturday night. The defeat snapped Atletico’s five match winning streak across all competitions.

With the result, Atleti stays in second place though third place Real pulls within five points, while Barcelona’s 5-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao opens their league-lead to six points.

Already through to the next round of the Europa League, Atletico continue their quest to defend their European crown when they return to the field Thursday to close out Group B play away to Czech side Viktoria Pizen.

The team returns to league action on Sunday when they welcome 19th place Deportivo La Coruna to the Calderon.

Sport Club Internacioncal

Internacional closed out the 2012 Campeanto Brasileiro campaign with a 0-0 draw away to Gremio Sunday.

With the result, Inter finished 10th in the 20-team Serie A with 52 points and will look to regroup ahead of the Gaucho state campaign, which kicks off January 19th against EC Passo Fundo.

Besiktas Istanbul

After league-leading Galatasaray drew 1-1 with Gaziantepspor on Friday night, Besiktas would come within one point of the league leaders using goals from Ibrahim Toraman and Oguzhan Ozyakup to earn a 2-1 come from behind victory away to Orduspor Saturday.

With the win, Besiktas move to 7-3-4 in the Turkish Super League, one point behind joint leaders Galatasaray and Antalyaspor. Samet Aybaba’s side will hope to go first when they welcome sixth place Eskiserhispor to the Inonu Stadium on Friday.

Al Ain

Al Ain continued their impressive run at the start of the Emirates Pro-League season, using goals from Asamoah Gyan (13th minute) and Ali Al Wehaibi (61st minute) to down bottom of the table Al Shaab 2-1 on Friday.

The result pushes Al Ain to an 8-1-1 record and top of the table Emirates Pro-League table with 25 points. The club will look to turn their three point advantage to six when they visit second place Baniyas Wednesday.

Raja Casablanca

Much like Al Ain, Raja Casablanca took steps to remain atop the Moroccan Botola Pro League with a 2-1 home win over Khouribga this past Saturday in Marrakech.

With two games in hand, Raja currently sit tied for first on 19 points with cross-town rivals Wydad Casablanca and will hope to take sole possession on Wednesday when the host fifth place Moughreb Tetoun.

Jalil Anibaba and Austin Berry aren’t the only Fire representatives at Atletico Madrid.

Earlier today Fire head coach Frank Klopas, assistant Mike Matkovich as well as President of Soccer Operations Javier Leon and Vice President Guillermo Petrei all checked in on how the Fire’s young defenders are doing in their training stint.

The group was able to see Anibaba and Berry train with the Atletico first team and even see the pair mark Colombian superstar Falcao during the proceedings.

Afterwards the Fire technical delegation held meetings Atletico CEO Miguel Angel Gil, Academy Director Carlos Aguilera, Marketing and International Development lead, Emilio Gutiérrez as well as Slanisa Jokanovic, the coach of Thai giants Muanghtong United, another member of the Atletico alliance.

While the Chicago Fire are out of action for a bit, we thought it appropriate to check in to see how the club’s worldwide Alliance Partners are doing in their current campaigns. Here’s a quick update on their recent results…

Atletico Madrid
With Fire defenders Austin Berry and Jalil Anibaba in attendance, Atletico defeated Sevilla 4-0 on Sunday, with Colombian superstar Falcao scoring his 11th goal in 12 matches. They currently sit second in La Liga with 34 points, three behind league leaders Barcelona.

Atletico take the field again Wednesday in a Copa Del Rey match against Real Jaen and return to league action this weekend for a derby match against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Sport Club Internacional
Sport Club Internacional fell 2-0 to Portuguesa in Campeanto Brasileiro action Sunday. Currently ninth in the Serie A table, Internacional head into their final match of the season with a chance to finish as high as seventh as they visit Gremio on Sunday.

As Internacional look to build for next season, it seems they could do so with Dunga at the helm as the former Brazilian national team captain and head coach reportedly held a meeting with club President Giovanni Luigi Tuesday morning.

Club America
After falling 2-0 in the first leg of the Liga MX Apertura semifinals against Toluca last Wednesday, goals from Miguel Layun and Daniel Montenegro brought Club America level on aggregate at halftime of Sunday’s second leg at the Estado Nemesio Diez.

With all to play for in the second half though, Toluca’s Edgar Benitez tallied the lone goal in the 59th minute to regain the aggregate lead and eventually send the home side on to the Liga MX final with Club Tijuana.

Al Ain
Nine matches into the Emirates Pro-League season, powerhouse Al Ain sit top of the table with 22 points from nine matches. Last Frieday the side received braces from Ghanaian international Asamoah Gyan and Omar Abdulrahman to earn a 5-2 decision away to Dubai Cultural Sports Club.

Raja Casablanca
After seeing Saturday’s encounter at FAR Rabat postponed, fourth place Raja Casablanca will hope to move further up the Moroccan Botola Pro league table as they welcome 13th place Khourigba to the Stade Mohamed V on Saturday.